Control device with self-contained visual indication means

ABSTRACT

A control member made of a light transmittable material selectively effects electrical connection between a power supply and a controlled device. The control member is provided with a self-contained visual indication means, preferably an electric light bulb, embedded therein. Appropriate electrical leads extend from the light bulb and are electrically connected to suitable contacts on the outer surface of the control member. The electrical switch or other device actuated by the control member is provided with suitable contacts operatively connected to a suitable power supply and adapted when the control member is in the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;on&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position to engage the contacts on the surface of said control member, thereby to provide power to the light bulb and thus to provide a visual indication of the status of the control member.

United States Patent [1 1 Kaneko et al.

[451 Aug. 21, 1973 1 CONTROL DEVICE WITH SELF-CONTAINED VISUALINDICATION MEANS {75] lnventors: Fumitaka Kane-k0; Shinzo Suzuki,

both of Tokyo, Japan [30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 23,i970 Japan 45/73809 [52} US. Cl 340/378 R, 340/381, 240/2, ZOO/167 A[51} Int. Cl. G081) 5/00, H02b 1/02 [58] Field of Search 340/373 R, 381;

200/155 R, 164 R, 164 A, 166 R, 166 E, 166 B, 166 A, 159 R, 159 A, 167R, 167 A; 240/1,

2,466,072 4/1949 Batcheller 200/155 R 2,205,380 6/1940 Batcheller.....240/816 UX 2,144,138 l/1939 Batcheller 240/8.16 UX 3,522,402 8/1970 DiPilla 4. 2001167 A 3,392,250 7/1968 Zieglar et al 2001159 A PrimaryExaminer-John W. Caldwell Assistant ExaminerWilliam M. WanniskyAttorney.lames and Franklin 5 7] ABSTRACT A control member made of alight transmittable material selectively effects electrical connectionbetween a power supply and a controlled device The control member isprovided with a self-contained visual indication means, preferably anelectric light bulb, embedded therein. Appropriate electrical leadsextend from the light bulb and are electrically connected to suitablecontacts on the outer surface of the control member. The electricalswitch or other device actuated by the control member is provided withsuitable contacts operatively connected to a suitable power supply andadapted when the control member is in the on" position to engage thecontacts on the surface of said control member, thereby to provide powerto the light bulb and thus to provide a visual indication of the statusof the control member.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENIEBAUSZI 191s 3.754.243

F/G/ F/GZ ATTORNEY CONTROL DEVICE WITH SELF-CONTAINED VISUAL INDICATIONMEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to controlmembers, and more particularly the means for providing a visualindication of the status of a switch, potentiometer, or the like.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION In the use of control devices such as electricswitches, potentiometers, or the like, it is often necessary ordesirable to provide a visual indication of the status of the deviceindependently of the status of the mechanism which it controls. This isparticularly desirable in any situation where the controlled device isnot readily visible or otherwise perceivable by the operator of thecontrol device. A typical example of this situation is the flight deckof an airplane which may be provided with literally hundreds ofelectrical control switches and other electrical control devices adaptedto actuate mechanisms, such as valves, solenoids, heating and.

cooling systems, etc., the status of most of which is not readilyapparent to the pilot immediately upon throwing the switch ormanipulating the control device.

In other situations the operator may be roving or positioned asubstantial distance from the control panel. In such case the status ofthe control device indicated by the relative position of a controlmember such as a switch button or knob is not readily visible to theoperator. A typical example of this situation occurs when a operator hasthe responsibility for monitoring a large number of control devices,such as in the control room of a large power supply station. Variousother situations requiring additional visual indication of the status ofcontrol mechanisms will readily come to mind.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART In the past this need has been filled bythe provision of separate visual indicating devices mounted proximatethe control member. Such devices may be mechanical, such as a coloredflag adapted to rotate into display position within a window in thecontrol panel, or electrical, such as an electric light bulb suitablypositioned adjacent the control member. In either case, it is necessaryto provide an additional electrical connection or mechanical linkage.These additional connections andior linkages, like the actual controland controlled devices themselves, are subject to failure. It will beapparent that failure of such indicating devices may sometimes be asserious as failure of the actual controlled system. Moreover, the use ofseparate indicating devices for the control devices materially increasesthe space requirements of a control panel. This is a particularlycrucial matter where, as in the flight deck of an airplane, controlpanel space is necessarily limited.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide acontrol member such as a button or knob for use in connection with acontrol device such as an electric switch, potentiometer, or the like,which is provided with a self-contained visual indicating means adaptedto provide a visual indication of the position of said button or knob.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a controlmember of the type described which is provided with a visual indicatingmeans requiring no additional electrical or mechanical connections tothe control device.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a controlmember of the type described provided with a visual indicating meanswhich requires no additional space on a control panel.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide aself-contained indicating means on a control member which is inexpensiveto manufacture and extremely reliable in operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To these ends, the present invention comprisesa control or manipulating member such as a button, knob, or the like,which is constructed of a translucent or light transmittable materailand is provided with a visual illumination means embedded therein.Preferably the visual illumination means comprises a simple electriclight bulb suitably electrically connected to electrical contacts on theouter surface of the control member. The control member may be adaptedto actuate an electrical switch or potentiometer or the like which isprovided with corresponding suitably positioned electrical contactsadapted to engage the contacts on the outer surface of the controlmember when the control member is in the on" position, thereby to supplysuitable power to light the electric light bulb. The light thus emittedbeing readily visible through the translucent material of which thecontrol member is constructed.

In one embodiment the control member is a simple pushbutton providedwith electrical contacts on opposite side surfaces thereof, theswitching device being provided with correpondingly spaced electricalcontacts operatively connected to a suitable power supply.

In a second embodiment the control member is a rotatable-control knobprovided with spaced peripheral curved electrical contacts on its bottomsurface facing the electrical switching device which in turn is providedwith suitably spaced contacts adapted to slide along said bottomsurface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To the accomplishment of the above andto such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present inventionrelates to a control member with a selfcontained visual indicating meansas defined in the appended claims and as described herein with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present inventionin the form of a control button;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the line 22 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the control button of FIG. 1appropriately mounted in a pushbutton type switch;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a button similar in construction to thatof FIG. 1 appropriately mounted in a slide type switch;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotatable control knob constructed in.accordance with the present invention operatively mounted in a rotarytype switch;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the control knob and switch of FIG.5 taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the rotary control knob of FIG. 5taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a controlmember having a self-contained visual indication means. While theinvention is herein specifically described with respect to a poweredsource of illumination, it will be apparent that various otherindicating means are possible. Thus the invention contemplates any meanswhereby the control member itself may be adapted to provide at least twomarkedly different appearances to the observer even at a distance,thereby to provide a visual representation of the status of the controlmember.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there isillustrated one embodiment of the present invention in which the controlmember is in the form of a button generally designated having a bodyformed of the aforementioned translucent insulating material and havinga generally square-shaped cross-section. As best shown in FIG. 2,embedded within button 10 generally centrally thereof is an electriclight bulb generally designated 12 having the usual gas filled sealedenclosure 14 and a coiled filament 16 disposed therein and electricallyconnected in known manner between electrical terminals 18 disposedexternally of the enclosure 14. A pair of electrical wire leads 20 areelectrically connected to terminals 18 and extend outwardly in oppositedirections toward opposite outer side surfaces 22 of the button wherethey are respectively electrically connected to a pair of electricalcontacts 24 mounted on said opposite surfaces 22 of button body 11.Light bulb 12 may be any commercially available incandescent bulb ofsuitable dimensions appropriately electrically connected to leads 20 inany suitable manner, such as by soldering. Alternatively bulb 12 may bespecially constructed for use with the present invention with lead wires20 being directly connected to opposite ends of filament 16. Preferablythe button body 11 is not transparent but rather has a suitable color sothat the outline of bulb 12 is not visible.

The embedment of bulb l2 and leads 20 within the button body 11 may beaccomplished by any well known method. For example the body 11 may beformed of moldable material which is molded around bulb 20 by means of asuitably designed mold casing. In this case, contacts 24, which aretypically metallic, might be electrically connected to leads 20, as bysoldering, before molding, the mold material forming around a smallinternally facing stem portion 26 of each contact 24, thereby to securethe contacts on the outer surfaces 22 of molded button body 11.Alternatively, the wire leads might extend outwardly of the mold casing,said leads being'subsequently trimmed and the contacts 24 being mountedon surfaces 22 of the molded body and soldered to the trimmed ends ofleads 20 in any suitable manner.

As best shown in FIG. 3, in practice the button 18 is fixedly mounted onone end of an elongated carrier member 28 in any convenient manner.Carrier member 28 extends through an aperture 30 in one wall of ahousing 32 and is slidably received therein. The other end of carriermember 28 is typically provided with'one or more electrical contactsadapted to engage with electrically operative elements (not shown)mounted within the enclosure formed by housing 32. In the case of aswitch these elements will be one or more electrical contacts which maybe selectively engaged with and disengaged from the contacts carried bycarrier member 28 in response to the sliding movement of carrier 28 andbutton 10 in a direction into and out of housing 32, respectively.Suitable mechanical detent means (not shown) may be provided to maintainthe carrier 28 in one of its two or more operative positions in wellknown manner. Electrical terminals 34 are appropriately electricallyconnected to selected switch contacts within housing 32 and extendtherefrom for suitable electrical connection to the appropriatecircuitry of the controlled device.

A pair of electrical terminals 36 are mounted in suitably spacedrelationship on housing 32 and are adapted to complete the operativecircuit to actuate light bulb 12. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3terminals 36 extend upwardly at one end 37 in generally parallelrelationship and are adapted to engage the oppositely facing buttoncontacts 24 when button 10 is pressed inwardly to its on position. Theseterminal ends are preferably resilient, bowed slightly inwardly andturned slightly outwardly at their upwardly extending edges 38 to insuregood electrical contact. The other ends of terminals 36 extend outwardlyof housing 32 in opposite directions for connection to a suitable powersource adapted to supply the rated current of bulb 12.

In accordance with the foregoing construction, in the operation of atypical switch device, as button 10 is pushed inwardly toward housing 32to its on position the contacts carried by carrier 28 make the requiredelectrical engagement with the switch contacts mounted internally onhousing 32 thereby to close the appropriate external circuit or circuitsassociated with terminals 34. At the same time button contacts 24 slideinto firm electrical engagement with the upwardly extending resilientends 37 of terminals 36 thereby to connect the filament 16 across thepower supply. As a result current flows through filament 16 producing aglow which is readily visible through the translucent button body 11.Movement of the button to the off position shown in FIG. 3, as bypulling, will result in the appropriate disengagement of the carriercontacts from internally housed switch contacts and simultaneousdisengagement of button contacts 24 from the upstanding ends 37 ofterminals 36, thereby to disconnect filament 16 from the power supply,turning off light bulb 12.

FIG. 4 shows a button 10 substantially identical in construction to thebutton of FIG. 1 disposed in operative position in a slide-type switchor other control device. As there shown, the button is mounted on onesurface 39 of a suitable housing 40 for sliding movement therealong. Anappropriate carrier member (not shown) provided with sliding contacts issecured to the bottom surface'of button body 11 and extends into theenclosure formed by housing 40 through a suitable elongated aperture insurface 39 thereof. A pair of electrical terminals 42 are mounted inappropriately spaced relationship on one edge of surface 39 of housing40 by means of a U shaped bracket 44. Terminals 42 extend laterallyinwardly at one end 46 thereof in generally grasping relationship towardbutton body 11, said terminal ends 46 being adapted to resilientlyengage button contacts 24 as button 10 is moved in the direction ofarrow 48. The other ends of terminals 42 extend outwardly for connectionacross a suitable power supply. Electrical switch terminals 50 areelectrically connected to the appropriate switch contacts (not shown)fixedly mounted within housing 40 and extend outwardly of housing 40 forexternal connection to the controlled circuit. Switching or otherelectrical control is provided by sliding button body 11 along surface39 of housing 40 toward and away from terminals 42 whereby the contactscarried by the carrier member move into and out of engagement withappropriate fixed contacts or, for example in the case of apotentiometer, slide along an electrical body (i.e., resistor) to varythe electrical characteristics of the external controlled circuit.Simultaneously as button contacts are moved into engagement withterminals 42 current begins to flow through filament 16 to illuminatethe button body ill.

A third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 5-7. Asthere shown the translucent control member comprises a rotatable controlknob 52 in the form of a circular cylinder. Control knob 52, like buttonof FIG. 1, is provided with a light bulb l2, filament l6 and lead wires20, the lead wires in this case terminating at a pair of spaced arcuateconductive contact strips 54 disposed on the bottom surface 56 of knob52 adjacent the circular perimeter thereof. As best shown in FIG. 6,knob 52 is fixedly mounted axially on a control shaft 58 in any suitablemanner for rotation therewith. Control shaft 58 extends through anaperture 60 in a housing 62 and is operatively connected to the controldevice for rotary control thereof. While the control device might be anon-off switch as discussed with respect to the previous embodiments, thepresent rotary control knob embodiment is particularly suitable for usewith a control device having a continuously variable electricalcharacteristic. Typical examples are variable resistors and tuningcircuits in which for instance a sliding contact moves along a resistiveelement or a magnetic core moves within an inductive coil thereby tovary the operative resistance and inductance, respectively, within thecontrolled cir cuit.

A pair of resilient contacts 64 are mounted on suitably spaced mountingmembers 66 on housing surface 68 and resiliently slidably engage thebottom surface 56 of knob 52 along a circular path defined by arcuateknob contacts 54. A pair of electrical terminals 70 are electricallyconnected to contacts 64 respectively and extend outwardly in oppositedirection for appropriate external connection. In the case of an on-offswitch terminals 70 would be connected across a suitable power sourceadapted to supply the rated current to filament 16, contacts 64 slidingalong surface 56 of insulating knob 52 into and out of engagement withknob contacts 54 as the knob is rotated to its on and off positions,respectively.

In the case where the control device to which shaft 58 is operativelyconnected is of the type providing a gradual variation of an electricalcharacteristic as here tofore described, it may be desirable to providea correspondingly variable illumination of knob 52. This may be done ina variety of ways. For example contacts 64 may be maintained inelectrical engagement with knob contacts 54 in all operative positionsof control knob 52 and terminals 70 might be operatively connected tothe controlled circuit in a manner adapted to provide a variation ofcurrent to filament 16 corresponding to the variation of the electricalcharacteristic of the controlled circuit. A much simpler arrangementwhich does not require any additional wiring by the user is that inwhich the arcuate strips 54 are made of resistive material and areconnected at one end to lead wires 20. In accordance with thisarrangement variation of the rotary position knob 52 will cause avariation in the position of contacts 64 along said resistive elementsto vary the resistance of the filament circuit across the power sourceto which terminals are connected, thereby to vary the current suppliedto the filament as a function of the rotary position of the controlknob. It will be apparent that the aforementioned arrangements are alsopossible in connection with the push-and-slidebutton embodiments ofFIGS. 3 and 4 merely by making contacts 37 and 46, respectively, ofsufficient length to maintain engagement with the button contacts 24 inall or a plurality of operative positions of the button body 11.

In accordance with the foregoing, there is disclosed an improved controlmember for use with a variety of control devices having a self-containedvisual indicating means adapted to provide accurate visual indication ofthe status of the control member even when viewed from a substantialdistance. The present device is less complex both as regards manufactureand assembly than prior art devices and considerably reduces massproduction costs. Moreover, the present invention significantly reducesthe control panel space heretofore required for prior art arrangements,an important consideration in many applications. Finally the presentdevice is extremely versatile in that it may be used with a variety ofcontrol devices ranging from simple on-off switches to complex controlcircuitry without the necessity of additional electrical wiring to ormodification of the circuits with which it is used.

While only a limited number of embodiments are specifically describedherein it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that manyvariations may be made therein, all within the scope of the presentinvention as defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a control device having electrical contact meansoperatively connected to an electrical power source, a control memberadapted to be moved to at least two different operative positionsrelative to said control device, and having means separate from saidcontact means to make selective electrical engagement with said controldevice in said at least two positions, said control member furthercomprising a manually engageable member, electrically powered visualindicating means on said manually engageable member 7 adapted to providesaid control member with at least two visually different appearances,and electrically operative means on said manually engageable memberseparate from said selective engagement means and operatively connectedto said visual indicating means and adapted to electrically operativelyengage said contact means on said control device in at least one of theoperative positions of said control member and to operatively disengagefrom said contact means in at least another of said operative positionsof said control member thereby to actuate and deactuate respectivelysaid visual indicating means, wherein said visual indicating means is anelectrically powered illuminating means, said manually engageable memberis constructed at least in part from a translucent material, saidilluminating means is embedded with said manually engageable member, andlead wires embedded within said manually engageable member andoperatively electrically connected to said illuminating means, andwherein said electrically operative means comprises electricallyoperative elements mounted externally on said control member andoperatively electrically connected to said lead wires, said electricallyoperative elements being adapted to engage with and operativelyelectrically disengage from said contact means in response to themovement of said control member thereby to actuate said illuminatingmeans.

2. in combination, a control device having electrical contact meansoperatively connected to an electrical power source, a control memberadapted to be moved to at least two different operative positionsrelative to said control device, and having means separate from saidcontact means to make selective electrical engagement with said controldevice in said at least two positions, said control member furthercomprising a manually engageable member, electrically powered visualindicating means on said manually engageable member adapted to providesaid control member with at least two visually different appearances,and electrically operative means on said manually engageable memberseparate from said selective engagement means and operatively connectedto said visual indicating means and adapted to electrically operativelyengage said contact means on said control device in at least one of theoperative positions of said control member and to operatively disengagefrom said contact means in at least another of said operative positionsof said control member thereby to actuate and deactuate respectivelysaid visual indicating means, wherein said manual engageable member isin the form of a rotatable control knob, wherein said electricallyoperative elements comprise arcuate elements mounted in spacedrelationship on one surface of said control knob and adapted to engagespaced contacts on said control device, wherein said visual indicatingmeans is an electrically powered illuminating means, and furthercomprising lead wires embedded within said control knob and operativelyelectrically connected to said illuminating means, wherein saidelectrically operative means comprises electrically operative elementsmounted externally on said control knob and operatively electricallyconnected to said lead wires, said electrically operative elements beingadapted to engage with and operatively electrically disengage from saidcontact means in response to the movement of said control knob therebyto actuate and deactuate said illuminating means.

3. In combination, an electrical control device comprising a housing,electrically operative means mounted in said housing and adapted to beoperatively electrically connected in a control circuit, a controlmember mounted on said housing externally thereof for movement withrespect thereto between at least two operative positions, carrier meansmounted on said control member and extending into said housing,electrical control means on said carrier operatively connected to saidelectrically operative means mounted in said housing and adapted tochange the operative electrical effect of said electrically operativemeans in said circuit upon movement of said control member, electricalcontact means mounted externally on said housing, electrically poweredvisual indicating means on said control member adapted to provide saidcontrol member with at least two visually different appearances, andmeans on said control member operatively connected to said visualindicating means and adapted to electrically engage said contact meansin at least one of the operative positions of said control members.

4. The combination of claim 3, in which said control device is anelectrical switch, said electrically operative means are switchcontacts, said electrical control means comprising movable contact meansadapted to electrically engage with and disengage from at least some ofsaid switch contacts in response to the movement of said control member,thereby to establish said at least two operative positions of saidcontrol member.

5. The combination of claim 3, wherein said control device is adapted tocontrol the impedance of a variable impedance device, said electricallyoperative means comprising an impedance element, and said electricalcontrol means on said carrier operatively electrically movably engagingsaid impedance and adapted to vary the impedance thereof as it movesrelative thereto.

6. The control member of claim 4, wherein said visual indicating meansis an electrically powered illuminating means.

1. In combination, a control device having electrical contact meansoperatively connected to an electrical power source, a control memberadapted to be moved to at least two different operative positionsrelative to said control device, and having means separate from saidcontact means to make selective electrical engagement with said controldevice in said at least two positions, said control member furthercomprising a manually engageable member, electrically powered visualindicating means on said manually engageable member adapted to providesaid control member with at least two visually different appearances,and electrically operative means on said manually engageable memberseparate from said selective engagement means and operatively connectedto said visual indicating means and adapted to electrically operativelyengage said contact means on said control device in at least one of theoperative positions of said control member and to operatively disengagefrom said contact means in at least another of said operative positionsof said control member thereby to actuate and deactuate respectivelysaid visual indicating means, wherein said visual indicating means is anelectrically powered illuminating means, said manually engageable memberis constructed at least in part from a translucent material, saidilluminating means is embedded with said manually engageable member, andlead wires embedded within said manually engageable member andoperatively electrically connected to said illuminating means, andwherein said electrically operative means comprises electricallyoperative elements mounted externally on said control member andoperatively electrically connected to said lead wires, said electricallyoperative elements being adapted to engage with and operativelyelectrically disengage from said contact means in response to themovement of said control member thereby to actuate said illuminatingmeans.
 2. in combination, a control device having electrical contactmeans operatively connected to an electrical power source, a controlmember adapted to be moved to at least two different operative positionsrelative to said control device, and having means separate from saidcontact means to make selective electrical engagement with said controldevice in said at least two positions, said control member furthercomprising a manually engageable member, electrically powered visualindicating means on said manually engageable member adapted to providesaid control member with at least two visually different appearances,and electrically operative means on said manually engageable memberseparate from said selective engagement means and operatively connectedto said visual indicating means and adapted to electrically operativelyengage said contact means on said control device in at least one of theoperative positions of said control member and to operatively disengagefrom said contact means in at least another of said operative positionsof said control member thereby to actuate and deactuate respectivelysaid visual indicating means, wherein said manual engageable member isin the form of a rotatable control knob, wherein said electricallyoperative elements comprise arcuate elements mounted in spacedrelationship on one surface of said control knob and adapted to engagespaced contacts on said control device, wherein said visual indicatIngmeans is an electrically powered illuminating means, and furthercomprising lead wires embedded within said control knob and operativelyelectrically connected to said illuminating means, wherein saidelectrically operative means comprises electrically operative elementsmounted externally on said control knob and operatively electricallyconnected to said lead wires, said electrically operative elements beingadapted to engage with and operatively electrically disengage from saidcontact means in response to the movement of said control knob therebyto actuate and deactuate said illuminating means.
 3. In combination, anelectrical control device comprising a housing, electrically operativemeans mounted in said housing and adapted to be operatively electricallyconnected in a control circuit, a control member mounted on said housingexternally thereof for movement with respect thereto between at leasttwo operative positions, carrier means mounted on said control memberand extending into said housing, electrical control means on saidcarrier operatively connected to said electrically operative meansmounted in said housing and adapted to change the operative electricaleffect of said electrically operative means in said circuit uponmovement of said control member, electrical contact means mountedexternally on said housing, electrically powered visual indicating meanson said control member adapted to provide said control member with atleast two visually different appearances, and means on said controlmember operatively connected to said visual indicating means and adaptedto electrically engage said contact means in at least one of theoperative positions of said control members.
 4. The combination of claim3, in which said control device is an electrical switch, saidelectrically operative means are switch contacts, said electricalcontrol means comprising movable contact means adapted to electricallyengage with and disengage from at least some of said switch contacts inresponse to the movement of said control member, thereby to establishsaid at least two operative positions of said control member.
 5. Thecombination of claim 3, wherein said control device is adapted tocontrol the impedance of a variable impedance device, said electricallyoperative means comprising an impedance element, and said electricalcontrol means on said carrier operatively electrically movably engagingsaid impedance and adapted to vary the impedance thereof as it movesrelative thereto.
 6. The control member of claim 4, wherein said visualindicating means is an electrically powered illuminating means.